The Shipping News
“It may be that love sometimes occurs without pain or misery.”
4.5/5⭐
Right off the bat I knew I was going to like this book. It is overflowing with heart, honesty, and heartwarming moments, but it also pulls no punches—the characters’ pains are real and painful.
It took no time at all for me to love Quoyle, a man whose life has given him the bad end of things so many times, he fully believes its what he deserves. But he is also a man who loves his daughters with a ferocity and a dedication that sustains him through the many, many storms hitting him from all sides.
At a glance, I might compare this story to “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” but this book takes the general themes of that movie (a fresh start in a new and unfamiliar place, learning to enjoy life instead of just endure it, etc. etc.) and peels back the layers, revealing something admittedly less romantic, but far deeper, and, as a result, immensely satisfying.
I am sure you will love the characters just as I did. You will get frustrated with them when they fall short, and cheer for them when they improve, even if it is just by a little.
This book is full of baby-steps forward, big slips backward, but a constant effort through it all. Effort that ebbs and flows—due to grief, weariness, loneliness—but it never goes away, never goes out completely.
The setting—a harsh Newfoundland fishing village—is ripe with interesting personalities and oddballs, each clawing around in the dark looking for something solid to hold on to. I felt for every one of them, as invested in their happiness as I was in Quoyle’s.
As a final note, the writing style takes some getting used to. Sentences start with verbs just as often, if not more than, nouns. Scenes are portrayed in spurts of action, flashes of imagery. Almost like they are playing out in a slow strobe-light. It is skillfully done and a joy to read once you get the rhythm of it.
Some underline-worthy quotes:
“The old life was too small to fit anymore.”
“The part of Quoyle that was wonderful was, unfortunately, attached to the rest of him.”
